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Bangkok Post News (26/10/98)



THE BANGKOK POST: JUNTA SETS FREE 41 MORE NLD MEMBERS 
26 October, 1998 by Frederik Balfour 

The Burmese junta said yesterday it had released 41 members of the main
pro-democracy opposition party after detaining them for an "exchange of
views."

The 41 are National League for Democracy (NLD) members of parliament,
elected in 1990 polls, which the military refused to recognise.

"The government has been meeting with the National League for Democracy
since September in an effort to work together toward national peace and
stability," the Burmese Information Committee said in a release.

The junta had said meetings with NLD members "are being held in a cordial
atmosphere in government guest houses."

The 41 were released between October 20 and 25, bringing to 61 the number
of detainees released in recent weeks, which some observers say is linked
to growing international criticism of the country's human rights record.

In a message to the United Nations, marking the UN's 53rd anniversary,
State Peace and Development Council chairman, Senior General Than Shwe,
said Rangoon's "concept of human rights is based on our own values,
traditions and cultures.

"We believe that the right to development ... the right to live peacefully
and in security are of paramount importance for the developing countries
like Burma," he said in the message published in the official Burmese press.

While NLD supporters welcomed the most recent releases, the democracy
movement suffered a setback last week when Naing Ngwe Thein, chairman of
the Mon National Democratic Front, and two-MPs were arrested.

The Bangkok-based All Students' Democratic Front said the three were
charged under the Emergency Provisions Act for supporting opposition
efforts to convene the  1990 parliament.

The junta's spokesman confirmed to AFP that Naing Ngwe Thein was being held
in custody "while investigations are taking place for his illegal activities."

He said the party had been deregistered in 1992 for involvement with "armed
terrorist groups" and could no longer be regarded as a political
organisation. 

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